In this brief clip from our 2014 West Coast Conference, R.C. Sproul describes why nobody in hell can make any just complaint against God.
Transcript
“There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Some people, when they wake up in hell, will be devastated. They won’t find enough water in their eyes to satisfy their need to weep. They’ll be sobbing, “Oh no. Not here. Oh God, please have mercy upon me.” It will be the greatest disappointment they could possibly experience to wake up in hell. But then the other group that will be there won’t be weeping a bit; they’ll be gnashing their teeth, which is a biblical metaphor for human fury. “How dare you, God, put me here.” The anger of the damned will know no bounds. Now as I said, I sure don’t want to end up in hell. But one thing I know for sure—if I do, if I’ve deceived myself all these years, and if I’m one who says, “Lord, Lord, didn’t I do this and didn’t I do that,” and He looks at me and says, “Please leave. I don’t know you,” and He sends me to hell—one thing I can promise you is that I’ll be a weeper, not a gnasher. Because if I know anything about theology, I know that if He sent me to hell tonight, I could make no just complaint against Him.
I’ve been guilty of treason—cosmic treason. Every time I have sinned, I’ve asserted my will over the will of my Creator. I have declared that I am sovereign, not the Lord God. I’ve worked against His kingdom, not for it. I’ve sinned against the holy and infinitely righteous being who owes me nothing. And if I wake up in hell, I will realize I’ve only received what my life has merited: not cruelty, not injustice, but perfect justice.
